The Indian Premier League was an unknown commodity for any cricket fan when the tournament made it’s official debut in 2008. India had won the T20 World Cup a year back and everyone was interested in watching more of the new format.
The tournament needed a big moment to capture the imagination of the fans and Brendon McCullum provided a masterclass in explosive hitting. On April 18, 2008, the former New Zealand international slammed 158* for Kolkata Knight Riders as the IPL started it’s journey with a blast.
Royal Challengers Bangalore were on the receiving end of McCullum’s onslaught as he scored 10 boundaries and 13 sixes enroute to his century.
The innings took KKR to 222/3 and that provided to be a huge total for RCB. The Bangalore franchise was bowled out for just 83 as McCullum & Co clinched the encounter by 140 runs.
Speaking of his knock back in 2008, McCullum said: “That 158 (for Kolkata), it’s not normal to do that. For the first few years it took me a while to deal with the expectation of that, not just from other people but myself as well. Once you realise that that’s one of those days that does not come around very often, you bank the experience of it, bank the good feelings you got from it.”